SPRINGFIELD — Nearly 90 percent of state spending has now been committed because of recent court rulings and Rauner administration actions even though there is no state budget in place.

Illinois Senate Democrats estimate that 89.4 percent of all state general funding is covered by court orders, consent decrees, mandated state spending or other agreements and arrangements.

In other words, almost 90 percent of what the state usually spends has already been committed even through there’s no state budget in place.

In recent weeks, a federal judge ordered the state to pay Medicaid providers who serve children in Cook County. Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration subsequently announced that it would expand those payments to Medicaid providers serving children throughout the state.

Most recently, the administration further expanded that to cover all Medicaid providers and all services statewide in order to avoid additional legal action.

That means nearly $7.8 billion worth of Medicaid spending will occur at the Department of Healthcare and Family Services despite there being no state budget in place. Medicaid spending across all state agencies is approaching $9 billion in the absence of a budget.

The Medicaid program and overall budget numbers reflect Senate Democrats’ best estimates based on tracking of past budgets and estimated spending for those programs in the current budget year.